Methods and systems for setting and sending reminders

ABSTRACT

A computer system for generating and sending customized reminders having at least a server having a processor, operating system, memory, database and an application for generating and sending customized reminders to users comprising processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory processor-readable medium that when executed by the processor enables the computer system to perform operations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation and claims the benefit of U.S.Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 15/240,798, filed Aug. 18, 2016,which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/206,717,filed Aug. 18, 2015, which are hereby incorporated by reference, to theextent that they are not conflicting with the present application.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to automatic web-based reminders andmore specifically to reminders for filing annual forms and taxes.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many business owners must annually file certain forms, fees, or taxesrelating to their business. There may be penalties for non-filing orlate filing. To avoid these penalties, planning and preparation for thefiling must be done ahead of time, and some people may forget to do so.Some users may also not be aware of all required forms, fees, or taxes.Improper, late, or missed submission of necessary forms may be costlyfor business owners and other people who may be required to submitgovernment forms. Thus, there is a need for business owners or otherindividuals (hereinafter “user”) to have a convenient reminder systemincluding instructions for their form, fee, or tax filings.

The aspects or the problems and the associated solutions presented inthis section could be or could have been pursued; they are notnecessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued.Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that anyof the approaches presented in this section qualify as prior art merelyby virtue of their presence in this section of the application.

BRIEF INVENTION SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key aspects oressential aspects of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, this Summaryis not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of theclaimed subject matter.

In an aspect a computer system is provided wherein a user may subscribeto a service for setting and sending reminders for government forms,such that deadlines are not missed and penalties are avoided. Thus, anadvantage is a schedule of reminders is automated for the user andinstructions are sent to the user along with the due form, and the useris enabled to avoid missing deadlines and penalties.

In another aspect, a user may receive email notification of an upcomingdue date and download of a form or link to an online form with relatedinstructions to an online calendar 1 month prior, 2 weeks prior, and 1day prior to the due date of filing. Thus, an advantage is that a usermay receive several reminders with enough notice to prepare theirfiling. Another advantage is that instructions may clear up anyconfusion the user may have had about what forms, fees, or taxes arenecessary for filing.

In another aspect, a due date is determined by the service according toa user-provided business formation date. In another exemplaryembodiment, the user may select their corporate business entity type,and reminders will be sent according to the government agency forms andfees required for their specific type. The forms may, for example,include forms from the agencies of the IRS, California Franchise TaxBoard, and California Secretary of State, or any other U.S. StateAgencies. The business entity types may, for example, include SCorporation, LLC Partnership, and LLC Single Member. Thus, an advantageis that the reminders are customized for each user.

In another aspect, the user may receive at least one reminder. Inanother aspect, the reminder of the due date may be integrated with theuser's online calendar. Thus, an advantage is that that the filingprocess is more convenient for the user.

The above aspects or examples and advantages, as well as other aspectsor examples and advantages, will become apparent from the ensuingdescription and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For exemplification purposes, and not for limitation purposes, aspects,embodiments or examples of the invention are illustrated in the figuresof the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagrammatic view of a computer system for settingand sending reminders, according to an aspect.

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagrammatic view of the administrator's and theuser's experiences while using the computer system for sendingreminders, according to an aspect.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart depicting the exemplary steps of theuser's experience while using the system for sending reminders,according to an aspect.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart depicting the exemplary steps of theadministrator's experience while using the system for sending reminders,according to an aspect.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting an example of how due datesmay be applied to various forms in the computer system for sendingreminders, according to an aspect.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of an alternative embodiment of aprocess for setting and sending reminders, according to an aspect.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or web platform thatcan be used for providing the service for setting and sending reminders,according to an aspect.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

What follows is a description of various aspects, embodiments and/orexamples in which the invention may be practiced. Reference will be madeto the attached drawings, and the information included in the drawingsis part of this detailed description. The aspects, embodiments and/orexamples described herein are presented for exemplification purposes,and not for limitation purposes. It should be understood that structuraland/or logical modifications could be made by someone of ordinary skillsin the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore,the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims andtheir equivalents.

As used herein and throughout this disclosure, the term “mobile device”refers to any electronic device capable of communicating across a mobilenetwork. A mobile device may have a processor, a memory, a transceiver,an input, and an output. Examples of such devices include cellulartelephones, smartphones, tablets, portable computers, etc. The memorystores applications, software, or logic. Examples of processors arecomputer processors (processing units), microprocessors, digital signalprocessors, controllers and microcontrollers, etc. A transceiverincludes but is not limited to cellular, GPRS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fitransceivers.

“Logic” as used herein and throughout this disclosure, refers to anyinformation having the form of instruction signals and/or data that maybe applied to direct the operation of a processor. Logic may be formedfrom signals stored in a device memory. Software is one example of suchlogic. Logic may also be comprised by digital and/or analog hardwarecircuits, for example, hardware circuits comprising logical AND, OR,XOR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations. Logic may be formed fromcombinations of software and hardware. On a network, logic may beprogrammed on a server, or a complex of servers. A particular logic unitis not limited to a single logical location on the network.

Mobile devices communicate with each other and with other elements via anetwork, for instance, a cellular network. A “network” can includebroadband wide-area networks, local-area networks, and personal areanetworks. Communication across a network can be packet-based or useradio and frequency/amplitude modulations using appropriateanalog-digital-analog converters and other elements. Examples of radionetworks include GSM, CDMA, Wi-Fi and BLUETOOTH® networks, withcommunication being enabled by transceivers. A network typicallyincludes a plurality of elements such as servers that host logic forperforming tasks on the network. Servers may be placed at severallogical points on the network. Servers may further be in communicationwith databases and can enable communication devices to access thecontents of a database. For instance, an authentication server hosts oris in communication with a database having authentication informationfor users of a mobile network. A “user account” may include severalattributes for a particular user, including a unique identifier of themobile device(s) owned by the user, relationships with other users, calldata records, bank account information, etc. A billing server may host auser account for the user to which value is added or removed based onthe user's usage of services. One of these services includes mobilepayment. In exemplary mobile payment systems, a user account hosted at abilling server is debited or credited based upon transactions performedby a user using their mobile device as a payment method.

For the following description, it can be assumed that mostcorrespondingly labeled elements across the figures (e.g., 118-4 and218-4, etc.) possess the same characteristics and are subject to thesame structure and function. If there is a difference betweencorrespondingly labeled elements that is not pointed out, and thisdifference results in a non-corresponding structure or function of anelement for a particular embodiment, example or aspect, then theconflicting description given for that particular embodiment, example oraspect shall govern.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagrammatic view of a computer system 118 forsetting and sending reminders (“computer system,” “computer system forsending reminders,” “system for sending reminders,” also called forexample “RRS Reminders”), according to an aspect. The computertechnology described herein may be a service that a user 119 maysubscribe to, in order to use the system. In an example ofimplementation, the computer technology described herein can beimplemented as a software as a service (SaaS). As an example, the system118 for sending reminders may be a web application written in ASP.NETMVC5, for example.

Users 119 of the system 118 may first sign up for the service to use thesystem (step 118-2). A user who owns or is part of a business or companywith periodic needs to submitting tax or other types of government formsmay be provided with reminders by the system to submit the forms. When auser 119 signs up for the service, the user's data may be accessed (step118-3) and stored in a backend database (step 118-4), which may be, forexample, powered by SQL Server 2012. A cloud service such as AzureScheduler may be used to perform frequent checks in the database (step118-5). Next, a web API may be triggered by Azure Scheduler or anothersimilar service, when a reminder is needed, and a reminder may be sentto the user 119 (step 118-6). The reminder may be in the form of anemail, text message, or any other similar alert or electronic message.The schedule of reminders may also be customized. As shown, the system118 may include a server, which may be connected to a network, such asthe internet. As an example, Azure cloud hosting may be used to host theservice.

Customers may pay the administrator or other provider for use of theservice for setting and sending reminders. The administrator or providermay use, for example, eMarchant SOAP service to process payments (step118-7), or any other suitable service. As an example, when a customersubscribes to the service, the application may call eMerchant to processthe customer's payment (step 118-8). The customer's information may thenbe saved by eMerchant. If a customer cancels their subscription, theapplication may call eMerchant to delete the saved customer information.If at this or a later time a refund is needed to be processed for acustomer, the application may call the eMerchant service to refund anynecessary charge to the customer.

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagrammatic view of the administrator's 220 andthe user's 219 experiences while using the computer system 118 forsending reminders, according to an aspect. An administrator 220 maylogin to use the service (step 221-1). The administrator 220 may loadvarious tax forms into the computer system and create default reminderschedules for each type of tax form loaded. Each type of tax form may beflagged with the type of legal entity that it applies to, and whichgovernment entity to which it is associated or must be submitted to. Thetax forms and corresponding reminder schedules may be stored in thedatabase (step 218-4).

The user 219 may login to use the service (step 221-1). The user 219 mayspecify which type of legal entity their company is, and based upontheir answer, may see the appropriate tax forms and correspondingdefault reminder schedules set up by the administrator 220. Again, auser may be designated as a certain type of business or company type,and may therefore have different tax or government forms associated withtheir business or company type. As an example, an S Corporation businessmany need to submit forms to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Thesystem may determine which forms the user needs to submit, based upontheir business or company type. The user 219 may have their information,such as the company type, stored on the database 218-4.

A service such as Azure Scheduler or any other suitable service maycheck the database periodically (step 218-5). As an example, the servicemay check the database once daily for reminders that need to be set out.If any are scheduled to be sent, a reminder may be sent to the user 219(step 218-6), preferably in the form of an email. The email may containthe necessary tax forms as an attachment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart depicting the exemplary steps of theuser's experience while using the system for sending reminders,according to an aspect. The system first may detect whether or not theuser is registered with the service (step 322-11). If yes, the user andany other members of the user's company who are set to receive reminderemails and/or are associated with the user may receive reminders basedon the system's default reminder schedules (step 322-12), as will bediscussed in more detail in FIG. 5.

If the system recognizes the user as registered (step 322-11), the usermay then login (step 322-13), and upon doing so, may be redirected tothe user home page (step 322-14). From the user home page, the user mayview a number of different items (step 322-15), such as, for example, aform reminder, schedules, a list of company activities (such as updatesto the company information, etc.). The user may be asked whether theywish to add more reminder recipients (step 322-16). If no, the user maybe brought back to the items viewable on the home page (step 322-15). Ifyes, the user may add new email reminder recipients (step 322-17). Aftercompletion of this step, the user may be brought back to the user homepage (step 322-14).

The user may also have other options available to them upon logging in.As an example, the user may be asked whether there is a need tocustomize their reminders (step 322-18). If no, the user may beredirected to the user home page (step 322-14). If yes, the user may addmore reminders for the company as a whole, or may add reminders for onlythemselves, which may be the currently logged in user (step 322-19).After completing this task, the user may again be redirected to the userhome page (step 322-14).

While on the user home page (step 322-14), the user may have the optionof adding another company to their login identification (step 322-20).The user may then submit the new company's information (step 322-21).This may be done by answering questions and/or filling out a form, andagreeing to the service's terms and conditions. Next, the user maysubscribe to the service (step 322-22). As an example, the user maysubscribe by paying a fee, which may be annual, monthly, or any othersuitable recurring fee. The user may then be redirected to the user homepage as a logged in user (step 322-14).

If the system detects that the user is not registered, the user may begiven the option to register with the service (step 322-23). Next, theuser may submit their company information (step 322-21). Again, this maybe done by answering questions and/or filling out a form, and agreeingto the service's terms and conditions. Again, the user may nextsubscribe to the service (step 322-22). As an example, the user maysubscribe by paying a fee, which may be annual, monthly, or any othersuitable recurring fee. The user may then be redirected to the user homepage as a logged in user (step 322-14).

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart depicting the exemplary steps of theadministrator's experience while using the system for sending reminders,according to an aspect. First, the administrator may login to the system(step 423-13), and upon logging in, may be redirected to theadministrator home page (step 423-14). From the administrator home page,the administrator may have several options. As examples, theadministrator may be able to view and manage existing customers(companies), and the details of each customer (step 423-24), view andmanage existing tax and government forms (step 423-25), view and manageexisting users (step 423-26), and view and manage existing roles (step423-27). As an example, the system may have by default two initialroles, a user 219 and an administrator 220, and the administrator 220may have the ability to create additional roles, such as, for example,an “accountant” role. Based on a newly created role, the system may atsome point have logic to assign new business rules and abilities to thatrole. Additional subscription fees may or may not apply in such a case.

When viewing the detailed information of any one company (step 423-24),the administrator may have access to a company profile, which mayinclude the company's subscription information, email recipients,scheduled reminders, and company activities (step 423-28). When viewingand managing existing tax forms (423-25), the administrator may beprompted whether a new tax form is to be added (step 423-28). If yes,the administrator may be taken to a form detail page (step 423-30),wherein the administrator may add or edit form details (step 423-31)such as, for example, the form name, description, which legal entitiesand state to which the form applies, a link to a webpage withinstructions for the form, the form year, and form due date. Aftercompleting the form details, the administrator may add or edit thedefault schedule corresponding to the form (step 423-32), and next maybe redirected to the administrator home page (step 423-14).

If in response to the prompt, the administrator chooses not to add a newtax form, an option may be given to edit existing forms (step 423-29).If yes, the administrator may be taken to a form detail page (step423-30). The administrator may then edit details (step 423-31) such as,for example, the form name, description, which legal entities and stateto which the form applies, a link to a webpage with instructions for theform, the form year, and form due date. Completion of editing may thenredirect the administrator back to the administrator home page (step423-14). If existing forms do not need to be edited, the administratormay be redirected to the administrator home page (step 423-14).

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting an example of how due datesmay be applied to various forms in the computer system for sendingreminders, according to an aspect. The computer technology implementedin the system may follow these steps for each different form stored inthe database. First, the computer system may determine whether a form'sdue date is a static date based upon a standard annual cycle (step524-33). If yes, the reminder may then be a static date or default datethat may be set by the administrator (step 524-36). Azure Scheduler orany other suitable platform may be used to check the business logicwhether a reminder needs to be sent (step 524-37). The check may beperformed daily, for example, or the administrator may also set adifferent period of time for checks.

If the form due date is not a static date based on a standard annualcycle, the system may next check whether the form's due date is based onthe company's formation date (step 524-34). If yes, the administratormay set the number of days after the company's formation date the formis due (step 524-38). Next, the administrator may set how many daysbefore or after the form's due date a reminder is to be sent out (step524-39), or may set any other default reminder date. Azure Scheduler orany other suitable platform may then be used to check the business logicwhether a reminder needs to be sent (step 524-37). Again, this check maybe performed daily, for example, or the administrator may also set adifferent period of time for checks.

If a form's due date is not based on company formation date, the systemmay next determine whether the form's due date is based on companyyear-end date (step 524-35). If yes, the administrator may set how manydays after the company year-end date the form is due (step 524-40), ormay set any other default reminder date. Next, the administrator may sethow many days before or after the form's due date a reminder is to besent out (step 524-39). Again, Azure Scheduler or any other suitableplatform may then be used to check the business logic whether a reminderneeds to be sent (step 524-37). Again, this check may be performeddaily, for example, or the administrator may also set a different periodof time for checks.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of an alternative embodiment of aprocess 100 for setting and sending reminders, according to an aspect.The process 100 may be implemented on a web-based platform for remindersemailed to users based on the user's type of business. A web-basedplatform may include one or more servers and computers connected to theInternet. A user may submit their information into an intake form (step101) on a website, which may be used by a company offering the reminderservice. The information needed from the user may include, for example,business name and address, contact information, business formation date,business year end date, and payment information. An initial payment fromthe user may be processed through a payment gateway (step 102).Recurring payments may be set up at this time (step 103). The accountfor the user may then be set up (step 104). A notification may be sentto the service provider that a transaction has been approved, and anotification email may be sent to the customer and service provider oradministrator (not shown).

The service software implementing process 100 may be configured todetermine which forms at which dates are needed by the user according totheir corporate business entity type, such as, for example, SCorporation, LLC Partnership, or LLC Single Member. The user may thenreceive reminder emails from the service provider as per, for example,the IRS or Secretary of State Office requirements for their specificcorporate business entity type, triggered by a due date (step 105).

As shown, a user may select for example S Corporation as their businesstype (step 106-a). For an S Corporation, a user may receive a BusinessFormation Reminder Email (step 107-a), for Form SI-200 (Statement ofInformation Form). The first Business Formation Reminder Email may betriggered and sent 30 days prior to the due date (step 108-a), whichpreferably is based upon the business formation date as entered on theinitial subscriber intake form. Each business may have a unique datewhich is predicated upon their own business formation date. Theappropriate Secretary of State form may be accessed online through theSecretary of State portal and the reminder service may provide a directlink to the form and/or an email attachment of the form itself withinthe reminder email (step 108-a). The reminder email may includeinstructions for completing and filing the form, and the instructionsmay, for example, include notice of fees required, or instructions formailing the form. Since the IRS may change the URL for the form on anannual basis, an advantage is that the user may receive an updateddirect link with each reminder as well as the actual form as anattachment within the reminder email.

A second Business Formation Reminder Email may be sent 14 days prior tothe due date (step 109-a). The same links and instructions as in thefirst email (step 108-a) may be included, with an updated messagealerting the user that there are two weeks until the deadline, and amessage that penalties, which may include a late fee, may be incurred ifthe filing is late. A third Business Formation Reminder Email may besent one day prior to the due date (step 110-a). The same links andinstructions as in the first email (step 108-a) may be included, with anupdated message alerting the user that there is one day until thedeadline and a message that penalties, which may include a late fee, maybe incurred if the filing is late.

An S Corporation user may also receive additional reminder emails. Forexample, a Tax Extension Reminder Email (step 111-a) may be sent,including a link to IRS Form 7004, the Automatic Extension of time tofile form. This reminder email may include a message prompting usersthat if they do not think they can file their 1120 S (US Income TaxReturn for S Corporation) on time, they may complete and file the IRSForm 7004 through the government portal.

An S Corporation user may also receive State Business Income TaxExtension Reminder Emails (also shown as step 111-a), for Form 3539. Themessage included with these reminders may be, for example, that if theuser paid their Corporate Estimate Tax last year, then this form willnot need to be filled out at this time, but if the user did not pay thefee by April 15 of the previous year, then the user will need to fillout the form and submit it to avoid fines and penalty.

The reminder emails for Form 7004 and Form 3539 may be sent together ina single reminder email. Each reminder email may include a link to theappropriate form(s), instructions for completing and filing the form(s),and the due date of March 15, which may be in 30 days on February 15(step 112-a), in 2 weeks on March 1 (step 113-a), or in 1 day on March14 (step 114-a).

An S Corporation user may receive Corporate Estimate Tax Reminder Emails(step 115-a), for Form 100-ES. As an example, all S Corporations withinthe state of California may pay a designated minimum franchise tax fee,for example, $800. Again, three reminder emails may be sent to the user(steps 116-a-118-a). Again, each reminder email may include a link tothe appropriate form, instructions for completing and filing the form,and the due date of April 15, which may be in 30 days on March 15 (step116-a), in 2 weeks on April 1 (step 117-a), or in 1 day on April 14(step 118-a).

A user may select LLC Partnership as their business type (step 106-b),and receive the same reminder emails as S Corporations with the additionof reminder emails for one more form, the Form 3536, such that an LLCPartnership user may receive reminder emails for five forms. LLCPartnership users may receive three Business Formation Reminder Emails(step 107-b) with a link to the Secretary of State form, Form LLC-12,similar to the form required for S Corporations, and instructions asdescribed herein for S Corporations, on the three trigger due dates(steps 108-b-110-b). Again, the dates that the reminder emails are sentmay be dependent on the business formation date provided by the user.The instructions may, for example, include a statement of what fees arerequired, and may include notice that the form may not be completedonline and must be mailed.

An LLC Partnership user may receive three Tax Extension Reminder Emails(step 111-b) with a link to the Form 7004 and instructions and StateBusiness Income Tax Extension Reminder Emails (also shown as step 111-b)as described herein for S Corporations, on the three trigger dates(steps 112-b-114-b) according to the due date of March 15. LLCPartnership users may also receive Corporate Estimate Tax ReminderEmails (step 115-b), for LLC Form 3522 on three trigger dates, triggeredby a due date of April 15 (steps 116-b-118-b). Again as an example, asin the reminder emails for S Corporations, this reminder email mayinclude a message regarding the minimum franchise tax fee payable by,for example, all LLC corporations within the state of California. LLCPartnership users may also receive reminder emails for Form 3536 (notshown) due on June 15. Three reminder emails including a link to theform and instructions for completing and filing the form may be sent 30days prior to the due date on May 15, 2 weeks prior on June 1, and 1 dayprior on June 15 (not shown).

A user may select LLC Single Member as their business type (step 106-c).LLC Single Member users may receive reminder emails for three forms.Business Formation Reminder Emails (step 107-c) triggered by thebusiness formation date (steps 108-c-110-c), Tax Extension ReminderEmails (step 111-c) triggered by a due date of March 15 (steps112-c-114-c), and Corporate Estimate Tax Reminder Emails (step 115-c)triggered by a due date of April 15 (steps 115-c-118-c) may be receivedincluding messages and instructions as described herein for SCorporation users and LLC Partnership users.

In an exemplary embodiment, the contents of the reminder emails may beintegrated with a user's online calendar, such as, for example,Microsoft Outlook. The reminder may be automatically generated orpopulated onto the calendar of the user. The due dates for filing of theforms may be, for example, automatically inserted into the user'scalendar, and links to the forms may also be available through theuser's calendar. As another example, the reminder email may include anoption for the user to click to add the due date to their onlinecalendar.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or web platform thatcan be used for providing the service for setting and sending reminders,according to an aspect. As shown, the system may include a webapplication, a database (e.g., SQL Server 2012), an end user device(“client device,” or “client computer”) 728 capable of two-waycommunication 726 with a server 725 or database over a network (e.g.,the internet). A web application through which a user may access thesystem for setting and sending reminders may run on a web server(s) orin the cloud, and may communicate with the end user device. As it willbe understood, the server used in the computer system may have aprocessor, operating system, memory, and so on, as is commonly known.Each client computer 728 that may access the server may also have aprocessor, operating system, memory, and so on, as is commonly known. Aclient device 728 may be a laptop, mobile device, tablet, or any otherpersonal device, which may also have a processor, memory, operatingsystem, and so on, including non-transitory readable media, as is wellknown. The client computer 728 may login to the server to be providedwith the service, as the system was set to do and described herein. Thesystem may also include processor-executable instructions stored on, forexample, a non-transitory processor-readable medium, that when executedby the processor, may enable the computer system to perform operationsfor carrying out the steps described herein.

As an example, Entity Framework may be used for accessing the database,which may allow for querying data, updating data, and inserting data tothe database. Any suitable plugins and/or technologies may be used forbuilding the front-end of the website from which the service for settingand sending reminders may be accessed. As examples: AngularJS may beused on several pages for displaying data on a grid and allowing usersto quickly search for data; Bootstrap may be used for making the pagesof the website responsive to the user's device (such as, for example,automatically adjusting to a desktop version, or a mobile version) andfor applying layout controls on the web pages (such as, for example,using Bootstrap styles for buttons, text boxes, navigation menus, etc.);Font Awesome may be used for visual appeal on the web pages; Gentelellamay be used to build an admin template for the web application of theservice (such as, for example, the layout of the administrator page anduser page after an administrator or user logs in); and PaceJS may beused to generate a progress indicator for users to see the loadingprogress of the current page.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used in this patent document. The term “couple” and itsderivatives refer to any direct or indirect communication between two ormore elements, whether or not those elements are in physical contactwith one another. The term “or” is inclusive, meaning and/or. Thephrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well asderivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within,interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with,couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave,juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a propertyof, or the like.

Further, as used in this application, “plurality” means two or more. A“set” of items may include one or more of such items. Whether in thewritten description or the claims, the terms “comprising,” “including,”“carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to beunderstood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to.Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of,” respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitionalphrases with respect to claims.

If present, use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,”etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connoteany priority, precedence or order of one claim element over another orthe temporal order in which acts of a method are performed. These termsare used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having acertain name from another element having a same name (but for use of theordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used in thisapplication, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, butthe alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.

Throughout this description, the aspects, embodiments or examples shownshould be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on theapparatus or procedures disclosed or claimed. Although some of theexamples may involve specific combinations of method acts or systemelements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements maybe combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives.

Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with oneaspect, embodiment or example are not intended to be excluded from asimilar role(s) in other aspects, embodiments or examples.

Aspects, embodiments or examples of the invention may be described asprocesses, which are usually depicted using a flowchart, a flow diagram,a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may depictthe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be re-arranged. With regard to flowcharts, it should beunderstood that additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the stepsas shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the describedmethods.

If means-plus-function limitations are recited in the claims, the meansare not intended to be limited to the means disclosed in thisapplication for performing the recited function, but are intended tocover in scope any equivalent means, known now or later developed, forperforming the recited function.

If any presented, the claims directed to a method and/or process shouldnot be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written,and one skilled in the art can readily appreciate that the sequences maybe varied and still remain within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Although aspects, embodiments and/or examples have been illustrated anddescribed herein, someone of ordinary skills in the art will easilydetect alternate of the same and/or equivalent variations, which may becapable of achieving the same results, and which may be substituted forthe aspects, embodiments and/or examples illustrated and describedherein, without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore,the scope of this application is intended to cover such alternateaspects, embodiments and/or examples. Hence, the scope of the inventionis defined by the accompanying claims and their equivalents. Further,each and every claim is incorporated as further disclosure into thespecification.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system for generating and sendingcustomized reminders about and for facilitating the timely filing ofgovernment forms by a legal entity with a government entity, thecomputer system comprising: a database server that includes a databasethat stores government form data, wherein the database comprises a firstadministrative data structure accessible only by an administrator and asecond user data structure accessible by the administrator and a user;wherein the first administrative data structure comprises a firstportion having updated government form data, the government form datacomprising: an indication of a form type or name for a plurality ofgovernment forms; a first URL to each of the government forms foraccessing the official, continually updated version of each of thegovernment forms, the first URL being stored in the database inassociation with the corresponding type of legal entity required tosubmit each of the government forms, a due date for submitting eachform, and default reminder dates for preparing and submitting each form;a second URL to the official, continually updated instructions forcompleting each of the government forms, the second URL being stored inthe database in association with the first URL; wherein the second userdata structure comprises a second portion comprising user profile datasupplied by the user, wherein the user profile data comprises anindication of the type of legal entity of the user, the formation dateof the legal entity, or the tax year-end date of the legal entity; afirst software module that has a data connection to the database server,and that: for a particular user, automatically and periodically checksthe first and second portions of the database for due dates relating tothe government form data and the user profile data; determines, based onthe checking, whether reminders have to be sent out, by associatinggovernment form due dates and default reminder dates in the first datastructure with the type of legal entity of that user in the second datastructure; automatically triggers the sending of reminders to the user,if any reminders have to be sent out; and associates the first URL andthe second URL with the government form which is the subject of anyreminders that have to be sent out; a second software module that has adata connection to the first software module and that, when triggered bythe first software module, automatically: sends an electronic message tothe user, the electronic message including the reminder specific to theuser; wherein the electronic message automatically causes the populationof a calendar entry in an electronic calendar of the user residing on aremote computer with the filing due date and with the first URL for thegovernment form and the second URL for the government form'sinstructions; an application server having a data connection to thedatabase server and having a processor, a memory, an operating systemand a third software module, the third software module comprisingprocessor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitoryprocessor-readable medium that when executed by the processor enablesthe computer system to perform operations comprising: receiving thegovernment form data from the administrator; storing the government formdata in the first administrative data structure; automaticallydownloading and storing the government form from the first URL and theinstructions for the government form from the second URL; if thegovernment form's filing due date is static, storing the static defaultreminder date; receiving user profile data from the user about the legalentity type, the formation date, formation state or the tax year-enddate of the legal entity; and storing the user profile data in thesecond user data structure.
 2. The computer system of claim 1, furthercomprising displaying to the user the government form data, the staticdefault reminder date, and data about the formation date defaultreminder and the tax year-end date default reminder, if any, based onthe user profile data received from the user.
 3. The computer system ofclaim 2, further comprising allowing the user to configure additionalcustom reminders for the user or for other recipients associated withthe legal entity.
 4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein thegovernment form is a tax form and the government entity is a governmenttaxing authority.
 5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein thegovernment form is a Statement of Information and the government entityis a Secretary of State office of a state.
 6. The computer system ofclaim 1, wherein the electronic message is an email.
 7. The computersystem of claim 1, further comprising allowing the user to create andmanage multiple legal entities under one unique login.
 8. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon a computerprogram for generating and sending customized reminders about and forfacilitating the timely filing of government forms by a legal entitywith a government entity, the computer program comprising instructionsfor causing the machine to perform the steps of: creating a databasecomprising a first administrative data structure accessible only by anadministrator and a second user data structure accessible by theadministrator and a user; wherein the first administrative datastructure comprises a first portion having updated government form data,the government form data comprising: an indication of a form type orname for a plurality of government forms; a first URL to each of thegovernment forms for accessing the official, continually updated versionof each of the government forms, the first URL being stored in thedatabase in association with the corresponding type of legal entityrequired to submit each of the government forms, a due date forsubmitting each form, and default reminder dates for preparing andsubmitting each form; and a second URL to the official, continuallyupdated instructions for completing each of the government forms, thesecond URL being stored in the database in association with the firstURL; wherein the second user data structure comprises a second portioncomprising user profile data supplied by the user, wherein the userprofile data comprises an indication of the type of legal entity of theuser, the formation date of the legal entity, or the tax year-end dateof the legal entity; receiving and storing the government form dataabout each government form; if the government form's filing due date isstatic, setting a static default reminder date; receiving and storingthe user profile data; providing a software module to automatically andperiodically check the government form data, and the user profile data,and based thereon, determining if any reminder has to be sent out; andif a reminder has to be sent out, generating and sending to the user anelectronic message reminder that automatically causes the population ofa calendar entry in an electronic calendar of the user with the filingdue date and with the first URL for the government form and the secondURL for the government form's instructions.
 9. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the government form is a taxform and the government entity is a government taxing authority.
 10. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein thegovernment form is a Statement of Information and the government entityis a Secretary of State office of a state.
 11. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the electronic message is anemail.
 12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8,further comprising allowing the user to create and manage multiple legalentities under one unique login.
 13. A method for generating and sendingcustomized reminders about and for facilitating the timely filing ofgovernment forms by a legal entity with a government entity, the methodbeing operable on a computer system comprising at least a server havinga processor, operating system, memory and a computer program for sendingcustomized reminders to users comprising processor-executableinstructions stored on a non-transitory processor-readable medium, themethod comprising the steps of: creating a database comprising a firstadministrative data structure accessible only by an administrator and asecond user data structure accessible by the administrator and a user;wherein the first administrative data structure comprises a firstportion having updated government form data, the government form datacomprising: an indication of a form type or name for a plurality ofgovernment forms; a first URL to each of the government forms foraccessing the official, continually updated version of each of thegovernment forms, the first URL being stored in the database inassociation with the corresponding type of legal entity required tosubmit each of the government forms, a due date for submitting eachform, and default reminder dates for submitting each form; and a secondURL to the official, continually updated instructions for completingeach of the government forms, the second URL being stored in thedatabase in association with the first URL; wherein the second user datastructure comprises a second portion comprising user profile datasupplied by the user, wherein the user profile data comprises anindication of the type of legal entity of the user, the formation dateof the legal entity, or the tax year-end date of the legal entity;receiving and storing government form data from the administrator; ifthe government form's filing due date is static, setting a staticdefault reminder date; receiving and storing user profile data from theuser; providing a software module to automatically and periodicallycheck the government form data, and the user profile data, and basedthereon, determining if any reminder has to be sent out; and, if areminder has to be sent out, generating and sending to the user anelectronic message reminder including the filing due date and access tothe government form and to the government form's instructions, whereinthe access comprises a first link to the updated version of thegovernment form and a second link to the updated version of thegovernment form's instructions.
 14. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising displaying to the user the government form data, the staticdefault reminder date, and data about the formation date defaultreminder and the tax year-end date default reminder, if any, based onthe user profile data received from the user.
 15. The method of claim13, further comprising allowing the user to configure additional customreminders for the user or for other recipients associated with the legalentity.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the electronic message is anemail and wherein the first and second links connect to attached copiesof the government form and of the government form's instructions,respectively.